Zimbabwe – 19 August 2015

Zimbabwe ain’t China, says Jonathan Moyo
“ZIMBABWE ain’t China!,” Higher Education Minister Jonathan Moyo said Tuesday in comments thought to have been directed at Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s allies in the ruling Zanu PF party.
Mnangagwa’s allies are convinced he is President Robert Mugabe’s chosen successor following his promotion to be the country’s effective number two after the dismissal of then long-term rival Joice Mujuru.
New Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe job cut tsunami
Zimbabwe lost 20,000 jobs in the past month after a court ruled that companies could fire workers by giving them three months’ notice, the main labour union said on Sunday, as the government moved to amend the country’s labour laws to stop further losses.
Businesses in Zimbabwe, which has an unemployment rate of more than 80%, are struggling with electricity shortages, high finance and labour costs and cheap imports, which has seen many firms fail to pay wages or forced to shut.
BDLive

Empowering Malagasy Women Through Climate-Smart Raffia Production
Support for women’s associations in Madagascar to enhance raffia production is also helping the conservation of biodiversity in the Makira Natural Park.
In 2015, the International Trace Centre’s (ITC) Trade and Environment Programme in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) launched a two-year project in Madagascar to improve and develop the raffia-palm value chain for the international handicraft and fashion industries.
AllAfrica.com